What's next for Katie Gearlds, Purdue women's basketball? 'Improve the roster to fit my eye'

WEST LAFAYETTE – The first season under Katie Gearlds for the Purdue women’s basketball team is considered a success.

How will the Gearlds and the Boilermakers push the program forward? It's part of what's next. 

Before NCAA rules allow Gearlds and her staff to start individual workouts, the returning players will get time off, possibly up to three weeks after Monday’s loss to Marquette in the WNIT.

That’s one key piece for Gearlds, who didn’t have the opportunity to put her stamp on style and philosophy until she was named head coach in mid-September.

A full offseason will continue to help shape the culture.

YEAR 1:Foundation set for Purdue women's basketball

“She changed everything up when she came in and it showed how much improvement we made,” guard Abbey Ellis said. “We could see the strides we were making every day at practice.

“Having her for the whole summer and the spring and just getting better as a player, she’s laying that foundation, and everyone has bought in. We were tough to beat this year and now we’re going to be that team you want to beat.”

It’s been a long process to inject her terminology throughout the season, trying to make sure everyone is on the same page.

“At the end of the year at shootarounds, I was able to say things and they were able to hear it,” Gearlds said. “In January, we weren’t there yet. In February, it was hard for me to say things on the fly and for them to understand fully what I’m saying.

“That’s time together. I’m excited because there are a lot of things I need to shore up. There are a lot of things we have to get better at. There’s a lot of things we have to get good at.”

However, the major question is the roster – who’s coming back and who’s leaving?

Seniors Brooke Moore, Rokia Doumbia, Ajah Stallings and Nygoa Gony aren’t expected to return. Moore has entered the transfer portal. The fifth senior – Cassidy Hardin, who started 31 games – is expected to return and use her COVID-19 season.

Ellis, Jeanae Terry, Rickie Woltman and Madison Layden – all starters for most of the season – are scheduled to return. Freshmen Ava Learn and Jayla Smith saw significant playing time, but Skye Williams didn’t play due to an injury.

Sophomore center Ra Shaya Kyle missed most of the season with a lower leg injury and should return, giving the Boilermakers an inside presence. One question is junior Mide Oriyomi, a transfer from Northeastern, played in 16 games but none the last two months.

The Boilermakers will also add three incoming recruits – Ainhoa Holzer (Switzerland), Lilly Stoddard (Crown Point) and Addison Potts (Florida) - and are likely to add a fourth member in April. Zennia Thomas, a power forward from Warrensville Heights, Ohio, is the leading candidate to round out the class.

Gearlds could dip into the transfer portal.

“There are some things missing in the way I want to play. We’ve got to shore that up,” Gearlds said. “I don’t know if that happens in one year. I don’t know if it happens in two years. The ‘23 class has been a big focus of ours. I like our ‘22s.

“Maybe finding somebody in the portal. What it does for us roster-wise moving forward and it’s got to be the right fit. Does she have one year left? Does she have four years left? A lot of things for us to figure out. It’s not something we haven’t been working on, but we have to improve the roster to fit my eye. And we will.”

The 2023 class has four commitments – Northwestern’s McKenna Layden, South Bend Washington’s Rashunda Jones, Tennessee wing Emily Monson and Illinois guard Sophie Swanson. Mary Ashley Groot, a 6-foot-2 forward from New York, has been on Gearlds’ radar since she joined the program last spring and the Boilermakers are at the top of her list. 

While upgrading the roster is a priority, Gearlds and the Boilermakers can’t forget how this past season unfolded and us the building blocks to bring the program back to contenders in the Big Ten and nationally. 

“I told them - when banners start to hang it’s going to be because this group believed in me from Day 1. If this group doesn’t believe in me from Day 1, we don’t win 17 games. We don’t get recruits,” Gearlds said. “When banners hang it’s going to be because this 21-22 team believed in me from Sept. 16 on and they need to know that. They’ll be as much a part of those banners as whatever team starts to hang them.” 

Mike Carmin covers Purdue sports for the Journal & Courier. Email mcarmin@gannett.com and follow on Twitter and Instagram @carmin_jc